Individual Apple Pies

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These individual pies are the perfect sized portion for one with oozy and softened apples bathed in brown sugar and cinnamon nestled in a crumbly and buttery pie crust and topped with more crust and sprinkled generously with crunchy brown Demerara sugar, baked to golden perfection and served with a decadent caramel sauce.

Oh all you lovely people, I have missed you so much. This space was quiet for a while and that’s because I had some really interesting things being planned for this blog right here and I can’t wait to share all the amazing things that I hope you will be excited to hear as well.

But for now, we shall focus on these golden beauties that taste of all things heavenly.

I’m sure that if you guys are anything like me then you’d never even THINK of sharing your desserts!

Yes, I’m possessive like that!

😉

What makes these beauties special?

They are APPLE PIES! Period!

I think that is reason enough to make it stat! Especially since Fall has taken form in full swing and the weather has mellowed down from the scorching heat to a milder version. Trust me, you don’t want to step out of your home in Mumbai’s October heat.

These apple pies have been portioned out so that everyone gets their own ramekin of Fall awesomeness.

The secret to making a really good apple pie is the crust really! It needs to be really short and crumbly. The base should never get soggy despite the moisture in the apples they must be crumbly and crisp. And the best way to make sure that your pie crust is short is by using the coldest possible ingredients like the butter and water. Besides, working really quick will make sure that you do not transfer too much heat from your fingers and melt the butter. You could use a food processor for this but I prefer working with my hands.

The filling is simple yet packed with so many layers of flavour; it would be impossible to have a bite of this dessert and not fall in love with it. All you have to do is mix peeled and diced apples with cinnamon, brown sugar and caster sugar along with the juice of half a lime and mix well. The apple mix will start to secrete some exceptionally delicious juices that will enrich this pie and take it to 16378th level of awesomeness.

You can then serve it with some delish caramel sauce which is not a necessity and purely optional but who would say no to an incredibly thick, amber buttery goodness?? Besides, this caramel sauce does not contain even a grain of refined sugar!?

I just saw you gasp in astonishment! Yes, I am not lying or twisting and turning anything! This sauce is GENUINELY not made with sugar but by caramelizing honey. Trust me, it works like a charm! I will write up an individual post just to show you a step by step of making this caramel goodness that, believe it or not, is a much healthier version of your regular caramel sauce. In the mean time, you HAVE to use this lip smacking salted caramel sauce from Allie’s blog that I always end up drooling over!

Let’s get down to the deets of the recipe so you can run to your kitchen and start making these stat! 😀

Sift flour and add cinnamon powder to the flour and mix well so that the cinnamon powder is well distributed throughout the flour.

Cut cold butter into cubes and rub them into the flour using just the tips of your fingers. They will take a couple of minutes and resemble breadcrumbs.

Add the cold water and form a rough dough.

DO NOT KNEAD. You do not want to activate the gluten in the flour. As soon as the flour begins to come together, stop working on it and place it on a cling film, wrap it tightly and cool in the refrigerator for about an hour.

Peel and core your apples and dice them. Add the lime juice, cinnamon powder and the brown and caster sugar.

Leave it aside.

Grease your ramekins with butter.

Get your pie crust out of the fridge after an hour and roll them into approx 2 mm. Thin.

Use an 8 cm diameter and 5.5 cm height ramekin for making these pies. You can use any ramekin you have and adjust the circles of pie crust accordingly. Just make sure you cut out one circle considerably larger for covering the insides of the ramekin and the other circle the size of the mouth of the ramekin. Make 6 such pieces.

Line the insides of the ramekin with the larger circle of dough and add the apple mix until almost full and cover with the smaller circle of dough and refrigerate to avoid the dough from coming down to room temperature which will also melt the butter resulting in a less short pastry and a soggy bottom.

Once all the pies are done, pop them in the refrigerator to chill for about 30 minutes and preheat your oven so it gets plenty hot till then.

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius.

After 30 minutes, get your pies out, slash a little of the top dough with a very sharp knife to allow to the steam to escape.

Apply a coat of egg wash for a gorgeously tempting brown colour and sprinkle brown Demerara sugar for crunch and pop into the oven for about 30-40 minutes or until the tops have browned and the apple bubbles and boils leaving trails of cooked juices outside the ramekin